THE MYSTERIOUS UNAKOTI: AN OPEN AIR ART GALLERY IN TRIPURA!

Tripura is the third smallest Indian state. According to the ‘Rajmala”, Tripura’s celebrated court chronicle, an ancient king named ‘tripur’ ruled over the territorial domain known as ‘Tripura’ and the name of the kingdom was derived from his name.

Unakoti-meaning one less than a crore, or 99,99,999—is a Shaiva journey spot, not at all like anything you’ll discover in India. It could be said, it isn’t totally dissimilar to Macchu Picchu in Peru. Enter through the stone entryway, and you’re transported to another period. Monstrous symbols of Lord Shiva — etched out of the slope — welcome guests. There are, clearly, 99,99,999 of them. Arguably dating back to the 8th-9th centuries, these sculptures have some interesting tales associated with them.

Legend has it that Lord Shiva and his entourage were going towards his heavenly abode, Kailash, when they chose to spend the night at Kailashahar — 10km downhill from Unakoti. He cautioned his kindred voyagers that they would need to leave before day break, yet following a night of revelry; Shiva was the only one who woke up on time. Known for his touchiness, Shiva reviled the late sleepers to an unending length of time on Earth and strolled off to Kailash irritably. The entourage now enhances the slopes of Unakoti as reliefs.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As indicated by another form, the pictures have been cut by a stone worker called Kallu Kumhar. He was an awesome enthusiast of Parvati, so when Shiva-Parvati and their escort were going through this district — in transit Kailash, there is some who say Varanasi — Kallu Kumhar made a request to go with them. Shiva was careful about this suggestion, so Parvati thought of an answer. She recommended that the stone carver make 1,00,00,000 pictures of Shiva — to conciliate him — and his entourage overnight, and should he have the capacity to do as such, he would go with them. As the sun climbed the following day, he fell only one shy of a crore — and that gave Shiva the proviso he expected to abandon Kallu Kumhar.
Another variety of this story is that Kallu Kumhar was given the undertaking of cutting the gods in a fantasy, however as opposed to cutting pictures of the considerable number of divine beings, he cut one final picture of himself, making it one shy of a crore — a lesson, local people say, on for what reason not to offer in to ahankara, or pride.

Whatever be the story behind these carvings, the coordination’s of how they were made is a significant puzzle. The greater part of the bas-alleviation models are 30-40 feet high and have a crudeness that is more much the same as a tribal style than to the traditional Indian style. I observed it to be like statuettes from the Aztec human advancement — particularly the way the eyes, teeth and hoods have been portrayed. A few still elegance the slope — while some have offered in to the attacks of time — others evidently are covered and should be unearthed. I tallied around 130 of them. There’s unified with three Ganeshas, which seems to have a stream streaming on it — influencing it to appear as though he’s showering.